staining a wooden counter top

[Robert Flowers]

My wife wants me to build a counter top out of SYP, she seen it on the web. But she wants it darker and also may cut on it and prepare food directly on the counter. Does anyone know a stain or a way to do this and keep my wife happy?

Robert

[Phillip Mitchell]

Someone else may know of something out there that I don't, but as far as I know, there isn't a true stain that I would consider food safe. Stains are usually pretty harsh chemicals that don't mix well with food prep.

I made a couple of hard maple, edge grain kitchen countertop glue ups for my house recently and finished with several coats of Waterlox, but we don't cut on the counter. The only "finish" I would consider to be food safe for actually cutting on would be a mineral oil and beeswax finish, which would require continuous maintenance and would be much less resistant to water than a more sealed finish (such as Waterlox, Poly, epoxy, etc.) The mineral oil will darken the wood slightly as it is applied, and I would think that the wood would darken over time naturally, but it ain't gonna look like walnut.

Are you talking about end grain facing up (as in a butcher block cutting board), edge grain (bowling alley style) or face grain up? Either way, I would consider a harder wood to use if she wants to cut directly on it.

Is there going to be a sink in the counter? I think that would help determine what finishing regiment you need. If you are concerned about controlling bacteria from leftover food bits and having to think about controlling water on and around the counter, this isn't exactly a simple, slap it together project. Your glue lines need to be pretty tight so that whatever finish you end up using acts as somewhat of a sealer to keep food and water from making it's way down into cracks.

Not trying to discourage you, just offering some thoughts from someone who has built a few countertops.

[Andy Giddings]

Agree with Phillip, no stain should be used when the counter will be used for direct food prep. About the only thing you can do is use a darker lumber and put mineral oil/beeswax on as a finish.

[Jim Becker]

The problems with this idea...any colorant you use is only going to be more or less at the surface and that doesn't bode well for this kind of application. If you need a darker look than consider a different species. I also suggest you try to make it your spouses idea to "not" cut directly on the counter top, unless it's just a section of the counter that's made of other materials and clearly dedicated as a cutting area. And in that case, SYP just isn't going to "cut it", as it were...while it's hard relative to pine, it's soft relative to the job. I have a hard maple island and I still don't cut directly on the surface...I have a larger cutting board for that which can also be taken to the sink to properly clean it.

[Art Mann]

...while it's hard relative to pine....

Wow! I was under the impression that Southern Yellow Pine is pine.

[Jim Becker]

Wow! I was under the impression that Southern Yellow Pine is pine.

I meant relative to "various flavors of pine" in general...

[Bill McCarthy]

P3090866.jpg

This is a picture of a vanity I made last year. The counter top is made from SYP. I finished it with Waterlox. The Waterlox people claim that their finish, after it has completely dried (cured) is food safe. I don't know that I would use SYP for cutting on though. I offer this so you can see what the color would be, if you choose to go that route.

As an aside, my helper follows me wherever I go. Here he is trying not to be to obvious, but he has high hopes of getting a modeling carrer.

[Andy Giddings]

A film finish that's dry can be food safe - problem is going to be using it for food prep (especially with knives) is going to risk scratching the film and/or the film shedding into the food. Not a good situation unless you like poly chips with your meat and veg

[Prashun Patel]

Beware that cutting on a stained surface is not a good idea. You risk cutting through the surface layer of color to the bare wood. As Jim advises, color doesn't penetrate as deeply as people think. There are ways to get the color deeper into the wood, but if you are using standard stains/dyes and standard application techniques, they sit surprisingly near the surface and are easily damaged through abrasion.

Your biggest issue IMHO will be on corners that will get nicked, dinged, and rubbed.

A cuttable surface implies that you'll be scrubbing and cleaning it fairly well, which also implies compromising a film type finish, and scrubbing into the color layer.

There are few, naturally dark, relatively economical options.

My advice is to convince your wife to go for a lighter option like maple. If dark is priority 1, I would consider walnut with a few large, maple cutting boards.

[Jim Becker]

A film finish that's dry can be food safe - problem is going to be using it for food prep (especially with knives) is going to risk scratching the film and/or the film shedding into the food. Not a good situation unless you like poly chips with your meat and veg

The finish will still be "food safe"...all of them sold these days are "safe" once fully cured. But as you point out, it's undesirable to get finish slivers in one's salad, although it's true that a number of food items including some candies are coated with shellac.